Growing traffic density and the increased development of open spaces, in metropolitan areas in particular, continuously constrict the room for traffic movement. The available parking spaces are becoming smaller and the search for a suitable parking spot, in addition to the continuously growing traffic volume, puts an extra burden on the driver. When backing into a parking spot in particular, it is frequently considerably difficult to correctly judge the exact size and position of the parking spot.
Known in the automobile art are driver assist systems for vehicles which assist the driver in various driving situations, e.g., when maneuvering or pulling into and out of parking spots. Among other things, systems for measuring parking spots are known which, when driving past the parking spot, inform the driver in a suitable manner about the size of the parking spot so that, based on this information, the driver is able to make a sufficiently safe decision/prognosis on whether parking in this parking spot is reasonable. It is known to measure the size of the parking spot using sensors on the side of the vehicle, e.g., ultrasound sensors, and to communicate this measured value to the driver in a suitable manner.
It is disadvantageous in the known parking spot measuring systems that the driver of the vehicle must initially relate the measured value of the parking spot measurement to the vehicle length in order to decide, based on the relationship of vehicle length and parking spot length, whether the measured parking spot has a suitable length for parking. This procedure requires some concentration resulting in the driver's attention toward the traffic situation being adversely reduced.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for providing the driver of a vehicle with information for parallel parking the vehicle in a parking spot delimited by (at least) two end points, e.g., obstacles, via which the driver is informed particularly quickly and in a particularly suitable manner about the length (size) of the parking spot in relation to the length (size) of the vehicle. The driver is to be distracted from the traffic situation as minimally as possible.